Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Has $61.76 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.8% during the first quarter, now holding 399,345 shares valued at approximately $61.76 million.
• Insider trading is notable, with Director Kavitark Ram Shriram selling 18,566 shares and CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares recently, reflecting a 7.09% and 1.25% decrease in their respective holdings.
• Analysts have a generally positive outlook on the stock, with a consensus target price of $211.53 and several firms issuing "buy" ratings and raising price targets recently.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 399,345 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 11,609 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.2% of Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $61,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Guggenheim increased their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $4.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $201.42. The stock had a trading volume of 39,112,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,618,092. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $180.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.98. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,494,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $489,572,657.16. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.